2008 Annual Meeting
(400a) Fluidic Assembly and Packing of Microspheres In Confined Channels
Authors
Christopher R. Iacovella - Presenter, University of Michigan
Siva A. Vanapalli, Texas Tech University
Kyung Eun Sung, University of Michigan
Deshpremy Mukhija, University of Michigan
Joanna Mirecki Millunchick, University of Michigan
Mark A. Burns, University of Michigan
Michael Solomon, University of Michigan
Sharon C. Glotzer, University of Michigan
The fabrication of particles with controlled anisotropy is important for emerging applications in self-assembly ranging from photonics to drug delivery. In previous work, a microfluidics based approach to the continuous assembly of anisotropic colloidal particles was presented for a variety of target building blocks [1]. In this work, we focus on the active fluidic assembly and packing of spherical particles in small 3d rectilinear microchannels using a partially closed membrane valve [2]. In this range we find zigzag morphologies with repeating bond angles between spheres. In conjunction with experiment, we utilize Brownian dynamics simulations to predict the packing of confined particles to fully delineate the range of bond angles possible. We further create a compact theory based on trigonometric relationships to predict the relative orientation of particles within the microchannels, finding excellent agreement between experiment, simulation, and theory.
[1] Sung, K. E.; Vanapalli, S. A.; Mukhija, D.; McKay, H. A.; Millunchick,
J. M.; Burns, M. A.; Solomon, M. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 1335-1340.
[2] Vanapalli, S. A.; Iacovella, C. R.; Sung, K. E.; Mukhija, D.; Millunchick,
J. M.; Burns, M. A.; Glotzer, S. C.; Solomon, M. J. Langmuir, 2008, 24(7), 3661-3670.